Monday, September 26, 2016

“BLAME THE LAWYER” NO EXCUSE TO AVOID PENALTIES FOR LATE ESTATE TAX FILING

“BLAME THE LAWYER” NO EXCUSE TO AVOID PENALTIES FOR LATE ESTATE TAX FILING
The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Specht v. U.S., 118 AFTR 2d ¶ 2016-5243 (6th Cir. 09/22/2016) has just held that where the attorney for an estate failed to perform numerous duties with respect to the estate, including timely filing the estate tax return, and told the unsophisticated executor that the attorney had received all necessary extensions, the estate did not meet the reasonable cause/not willful neglect standard for avoiding late filing and late payment penalties where the executor had evidence that the attorney was lying.
Background. The I.R.C. provides for mandatory penalties for the failure to timely file a return (I.R.C. §6651(a)(1)) and failure to timely pay a tax (Code §6651(a)(2)). But, these penalties are not owed if the taxpayer can establish reasonable cause for the failure and that the failure was not due to willful neglect. (I.R.C. §6651(a)(1), and §6651(a)(2)). In order to meet the reasonable cause exception, Treas. Reg. §301.6651-1(c)(1) requires that a taxpayer show that while he used ordinary care, he nevertheless was unable to file the return within the prescribed time.
Previously the U.S. Supreme Court held that reliance on an attorney is normally insufficient to avoid penalties. Boyle, 55 AFTR 2d 85-153555 AFTR 2d 85-1535 (1985), In Boyle, the Supreme Court, held that Congress had charged the executor with an unambiguous, precisely defined duty to file the estate return within nine months and the fact that an attorney, as the executor's agent, was expected to attend to the matter, did not relieve the principal of his duty to comply with the statute. Under Boyle, to meet the reasonable cause exception, the taxpayer bore a heavy burden of proving both that there was reasonable cause and that the failure to timely file did not result from willful neglect.
While reliance on a lawyer was common, that reliance couldn't function as a substitute for compliance with an unambiguous statute. In Specht, the Decedent died on Dec. 30, 2008 but her attorney of 50 years in estate planning, and unbeknownst to Specht, was privately battling brain cancer. No federal estate tax return was filed on or before Sept. 30, 2009, nor was an extension sought. And, no federal estate tax payment was made on or before Sept. 30, 2009. But Specht received four notices from the probate court warning her that her attorney was failing to perform her duties and that the Estate had missed probate deadlines.
Since the executor knew there was a problem with her lawyer, she was found to have been neglectful. The 6th Circuit held that the relevant question was whether the executor, not the attorney, was reasonable in missing the deadline. In this case the executors blindly relied on an attorney's representations that the filing would be completed on time, and as a result the deadline was missed. The Sixth Circuit reinforced the strict, bright-line rule of Boyle where it concluded that, although the company had exercised ordinary business care and prudence, it also had to demonstrate that it was "rendered unable to meet its responsibilities despite the exercise of such care and prudence". That is, the failure to pay must result from circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control (e.g. postal delays, illness), not simply the taxpayer's reliance on an agent employed by the taxpayer.
Specht's reliance on an unreliable agent was her downfall. Therefore pick your attorneys carefully and learn the deadlines and oversee their compliance like a hawk to avoid decisions such as Boyle and now Specht.